WASHINGTON, D.C. —The Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau today filed suit against payment processer Intercept
Corporation and two of its executives, Bryan Smith and Craig Dresser, for
allegedly enabling unauthorized and other illegal withdrawals from consumer
accounts by their clients. In the suit filed in federal district court, the CFPB
alleges that Intercept turned a blind eye to blatant warning signs of potential
fraud or lawbreaking by its clients. These include actions by federal and state
authorities, and sky-high rates of returned payments because of unauthorized
withdrawals, insufficient funds, or invalid or closed accounts. In its suit,
the CFPB seeks to put an end to unlawful practices by Intercept, Smith, and
Dresser, obtain relief for consumers, and impose penalties.

"Intercept and its executives Bryan Smith and Craig Dresser
ignored clear signs of brazen fraud, including illegal withdrawals from
consumer accounts, and need to clean up their act,” said CFPB director Richard
Cordray. “Companies cannot turn a blind eye to wrongdoing when they process
payments from consumer banking accounts on behalf of clients that are breaking
the law.

Intercept Corporation is a third-party payment processor located
in Fargo, N.D. Smith is Intercept’s president and Dresser is its chief
executive officer. Each owns 50 percent of the company. Intercept transmits
electronic funds transfers through the Automated Clearing House on behalf of
its clients. This electronic network is used to process financial transactions,
such as payroll deposits, and loan and bill payments. Payment processors link businesses
and individuals to banks to provide access to this network. Intercept’s clients
include payday lenders, auto-title lenders, debt collectors and sales financing
companies, among others.

The CFPB alleges that Intercept, Smith, and Dresser violated the
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act’s prohibition against
unfair acts and practices by processing payments for clients without adequately
investigating, monitoring, or responding to red flags that indicated some
clients were breaking the law or deceiving customers. Intercept, Smith, and
Dresser played a key role in this unlawful conduct by giving these clients
access to the banking system and the means to extract money from consumers’
bank accounts. Allegedly, the defendants:

Ignored blatant warning signs
of potential fraud: High rates
of returned payments for insufficient funds or unauthorized debits may
indicate that consumers did not consent to the withdrawal or were misled
about the terms. The CFPB estimates that Intercept helped clients withdraw
millions of dollars in unauthorized and other illegal charges from
consumer accounts. Many of Intercept’s clients have run up annual return
rates of 20 to 40 percent for network transactions, far above the 1.5
percent industry average. Intercept made little effort to find the cause
of these astronomical rates, and, despite the red flags, kept processing
transactions for these clients. Intercept ignored other warning signs such
as state and federal enforcement actions against clients, including a
Federal Trade Commission action against Scott Tucker and his payday
lending operation.

Ignored complaints from banks
and consumers: Intercept ignored complaints
and warnings from banks and consumers about high return rates and
initiating unauthorized debits, including for payday lenders in states
where the practice is illegal. On at least one occasion, Intercept entered
into a trial period with a financial institution to process a limited
number of payments, but then ran millions of dollars of network
transactions through the bank, generating high volumes of returns. If
banks raised concerns about consumer complaints against an Intercept
client, Intercept would simply seek out a new bank to help it process
payments for the same clients. Intercept skipped among eight different
banks between 2008 and 2014.

Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection
Act, the CFPB can take action against institutions or individuals engaged in
unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices or that otherwise violate
federal consumer financial laws. The complaint against Intercept Corporation,
Bryan Smith, and Craig Dresser seeks monetary relief, injunctive relief, and
penalties. The Bureau’s complaint is not a finding or ruling that the
defendants have actually violated the law.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a 21st century agency that
helps consumer finance markets work by making rules more effective, by
consistently and fairly enforcing those rules, and by empowering consumers to
take more control over their economic lives. For more information, visit consumerfinance.gov.